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Scientology library: “Extortion”

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allyson maynard-gibson • blackmail • death • extortion • france • fraud, lie, deceit, misrepresentation • jett travolta • john travolta • juan mccartney • kelly preston • kidnapping • legal • michael "mike" ossi • michael mcdermott • nassau guardian (bahamas) • natario mckenzie • obie wilchcombe • oxford capacity analysis (aka, "free scientology personality test" aka "u-test" aka "pape test") • people magazine • pleasant bridgewater • purification rundown ("purif") • suicide • tarino lightbourne • tom cruise • tribune (bahamas)
30 matching items found between Jul 2009 and Dec 2009. Furthermore, there are 40 matching items for all time not shown.
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Nov 21, 2009
Scientology's dark secrets — The Age (Australia)
Type: Press
Author(s): Barney Zwartz
Source: The Age (Australia)
Senator Nick Xenophon's stunning attack on the Church of Scientology this week has shone a light on a worldwide group many former members accuse of ruining their lives through fear and abuse. SCIENTOLOGISTS lured Dean Detheridge off the street using their tried and tested technique of offering a personality test. He wasn't much interested, but they were extremely skilled and persistent persuaders, and he found he couldn't say no. Seven days later he was on staff in what turned out to ...
Nov 19, 2009
Former Scientologists allege abuse, intimidation — The Age (Australia)
Type: Press
Author(s): Katharine Murphy, Misha Schubert
Source: The Age (Australia)
FORMER members of the Church of Scientology have made explosive allegations about forced abortions, child abuse and financial extortion, prompting calls for a parliamentary inquiry. Letters tabled by independent senator Nick Xenophon reveal claims of vulnerable people preyed on by a coercive and ruthless organisation that punished and shamed dissenters by physical incarceration, withholding food or intimidation. But the Church of Scientology hit back, arguing the claims came from seven ''disgruntled former members who use hate speech and distorted accounts of ...
Nov 9, 2009
Travoltas have 'own way' of coping after death of son — USA Today
Oct 22, 2009
Retrial ordered in John Travolta extortion case — The Times (UK)
Type: Press
Source: The Times (UK)
A Bahamanian politician blamed a misunderstanding yesterday for the sudden collapse of the trial of two people accused of trying to extort $25 million from actor John Travolta. A Bahamanian Supreme Court judge declared a mistrial on Wednesday just two hours after the politician, Picewell Forbes, announced at his party’s annual convention on live television that one of the accused had been cleared - even though jurors were still deliberating. Tarino Lightbourne, an ambulance driver, and Pleasant Bridgewater, a lawyer and ...
Oct 22, 2009
Travolta hoped end of trial would bring closure / Actor upset over mistrial, wanted to begin healing process, attorney says — People magazine
Oct 21, 2009
Defence attorneys attack credibility of key witness — Tribune (Bahamas)
Type: Press
Author(s): Natario McKenzie
Source: Tribune (Bahamas)
DEFENCE attorneys in the attempted extortion trial of ex-PLP senator Pleasant Bridgewater and former ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne yesterday attacked the credibility of a key prosecution witness and told the jury that their clients were the victims. "This case that the prosecution has brought to you, is like a jigsaw puzzle and they have asked you to put it together," Bridgewater's attorney Murrio Ducille told the nine-member jury. Continuing his closing submissions yesterday, Mr Ducille told the jury that one of ...
Oct 21, 2009
Shurland: where's the evidence? — Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
Type: Press
Author(s): Juan McCartney
Source: Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
Comparing the attempted extortion trial of ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne to the absurdity of Alice's trial in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Ad-ventures in Wonderland, Light-bourne's attorney Carlson Shurland yesterday emphatically asked a Supreme Court jury, "where's the evidence?" against his client. "The facts will show, will demonstrate unequivocally that Tarino Lightbourne never committed a crime and should be acquitted of the charges," Shurland said. "Tarino Lightbourne was manoeuvred, was cornered, and he is a victim." Lightbourne and former Senator Pleasant Bridgewater are ...
Oct 21, 2009
Wilchcombe 'initiated' Travolta extortion case — Tribune (Bahamas)
Type: Press
Author(s): Natario McKenzie
Source: Tribune (Bahamas)
WEST END and Bimini MP Obie Wilchombe was described yesterday the "initiator" in the attempted extortion case against ex-PLP Senator Pleasant Bridgewater and former ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne. During his closing arguments yesterday, Bridgewater's attorney Murrio Ducille told the nine member jury that Mr Wilchombe had been the "initiator". "Had there been no call from him, we would not be here," he told the jury. Mr Wilchombe had testified that he had phoned Dr Mark Smith and Mr Travolta's lead attorney ...
Oct 20, 2009
Chief Prosecutor: Pleasant Bridgewater was not set up — Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
More: thenassauguardian.com
Type: Press
Author(s): Juan McCartney
Source: Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
In his final submissions in the attempted extortion trial of former Senator Pleasant Bridgewater and ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne yesterday, Chief Prosecutor Bernard Turner said that Bridgewater was not set up as she has claimed, but she knew exactly what she was doing when she and Lightbourne tried to extort $25 million from American actor John Travolta earlier this year. "Up to the bitter end there was no distancing herself from this plan," said Turner, referencing Bridgewater's statement during a videotaped ...
Oct 20, 2009
Court hears the closing addresses in Travolta case — Tribune (Bahamas)
Type: Press
Author(s): Natario McKenzie
Source: Tribune (Bahamas)
CLOSING addresses began in the attempted extortion trial of ex-PLP Senator Pleasant Bridgewater and former ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne yesterday. Director of Public Prosecutions and lead prosecutor Bernard Turner told the nine member jury that the prosecution has discharged its burden in proving that Bridgewater and Lightbourne are guilty of the offences for which they are charged. The two are accused of conspiring to extort and attempting to extort $25 million from American actor John Travolta. Bridgewater is also charged with ...
Oct 16, 2009
Witness testifies in Bridgewater trial — Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
Type: Press
Author(s): Juan McCartney
Source: Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
By JUAN McCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com: The defense in the trial of former Senator Pleasant Bridgewater and ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne rested its case yesterday, after its only witness finished his testimony. Final arguments in the case will be delivered on Monday. And Senior Justice Anita Allen is expected sum up the case and give instructions to the jury on Tuesday. Bridgewater and Lightbourne are accused of attempting to extort $25 million from American actor John Travolta after ...
Oct 15, 2009
Bridgewater: I was set up — Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
Type: Press
Author(s): Juan McCartney
Source: Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
By JUAN MCCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com: An emotional Pleasant Bridgewater yesterday held back tears as she professed her innocence and claimed she was the victim of a set-up by people she trusted, including PLP Senate leader Allyson Maynard-Gibson, who she said told a lie on the witness stand. Bridgewater gave an unsworn statement to the jury from the bar as the defense began submissions in her attempted extortion trial in the Supreme Court. "I maintain my innocence today," ...
Oct 14, 2009
Legal submissions delay Bridgewater trial — Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
Type: Press
Author(s): Juan McCartney
Source: Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
By JUAN McCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com: Proceedings in the attempted extortion trial of former Senator Pleasant Bridgewater and ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne experienced another delay yesterday as Senior Justice Anita Allen heard legal submissions from attorneys in the matter. The Nassau Guardian understands that defense attorneys Murrio Ducille and Carlson Shurland have been presenting 'no case to answer' submissions to Justice Allen since Thursday. It is also understood that Ducille, who represents Bridgewater, completed his submissions last week. ...
Oct 14, 2009
Paramedic: Jett Travolta dead before ambulance called — CNN
Type: Press
Author(s): John Couwels
Source: CNN
(CNN) – A paramedic accused of plotting to extort $25 million from actor John Travolta after his 16-year-old son died in the Bahamas told a jury Wednesday the boy had been dead for some time before the ambulance service was called. Tarino Lightbourn said in his statement to the Nassau, Bahamas, jury that a doctor told medics to keep administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Jett Travolta despite knowing the teen was dead, and that the ambulance company was told to transport him ...
Oct 9, 2009
Bridgewater 'destroyed' potential evidence — Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
Type: Press
Source: Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)
By JUAN MCCARTNEY ~ Guardian Senior Reporter ~ juan@nasguard.com: A police detective who was the final witness for the prosecution in the attempted extortion trial of former Senator Pleasant Bridgewater and ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne testified yesterday that Bridgewater told her that she burned and discarded the remains of a document at the heart of the extortion case, after she realized that the "situation was about to explode." Bridgewater and Lightbourne are accused of attempting to extort $25 million from American ...
Oct 7, 2009
Travolta’s attorney continues testimony — Bahama Journal
Oct 6, 2009
$15 Mil request on video — Bahama Journal
Oct 1, 2009
John Travolta's lawyer: Paramedic in extortion plot thought actor 'intentionally killed' his son — NY Daily News (New York)
Type: Press
Author(s): Lisa Lucas, Carrie Melago
Source: NY Daily News (New York)
It was a twisted scheme playing on a broken dad's unbearable grief. A blackmailing medic and his brazen lawyer threatened to tell the world John Travolta "intentionally killed" his son unless they got $25 million in hush money, the star's lawyer testified Thursday. Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne planned to make public a routine waiver Travolta signed initially refusing local medical treatment after his autistic son, Jett, 16, suffered a massive seizure in the family's Bahamas resort villa. The actor had considered flying ...
Oct 1, 2009
Travolta: Defendants demanded $25M — Boston Herald
Type: Press
Author(s): Gayle Fee, Laura Raposa
Source: Boston Herald
Hollywood A-Lister John Travolta testified in a Bahamian extortion trial yesterday that he was told unless he paid $25 million, stories would be sold to the news media implying he was to blame for his is son’s death. Travolta said his longtime friend and employee Ronald Zupancic first told him of the alleged threat Jan. 16 - two weeks after Travolta’s son, Jett, 16, died of a seizure during a family vacation in the Bahamas. Former paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former ...
Sep 28, 2009
Key evidence destroyed in Travolta case? — People magazine
Type: Press
Author(s): Siobhan Morrissey
Source: People magazine
On Jan. 19, Pleasant Bridgewater, who had been a Bahamian senator and well-respected member of the Progressive Liberal Party at the time, met with John Travolta's attorney to iron out payment for a document regarding medical treatment for the actor's son on the day he died. Three days later, Bridgewater was under arrest for extortion and, according to a police report, admitted to the Bahamian authorities that she had destroyed a copy of the document in question – a "Refusal of ...
Sep 27, 2009
Travolta's Scientology turning point? — The Daily Beast
Type: Press
Author(s): Kim Masters
Source: The Daily Beast
The actor’s public acknowledgement that his son, who died in January, was autistic has former Scientologists convinced that he will leave the church—which they say has little tolerance for chronic conditions. When John Travolta took the witness stand last week and testified that his late son, Jett, was autistic, it came as a grim relief to some former Scientologists. “Wasn’t that amazing?” said a fallen-away church member after Travolta appeared in an extortion case that followed the death of his 16-year-old ...
Sep 25, 2009
Explosive evidence from the Travolta extortion trial — People magazine
More: msnbc.msn.com
Type: Press
Author(s): Siobhan Morrissey
Source: People magazine
Lawyer for actor seen negotiating with two defendants in Bahamas trial Is it the smoking gun? The trial of two defendants accused of trying to extort $25 million from John Travolta in return for handing over a document relating to the death of the star's 16-year-old son, Jett, continued in the Bahamas Friday. Meanwhile, PEOPLE has watched videotape of conversations recorded by the Royal Bahamas Police between Travolta's attorney and the two defendants — paramedic Tarino Lightbourn and his lawyer, Pleasant ...
Sep 24, 2009
Testimony by John Travolta that son was autistic raises Scientology questions — Wikinews
Sep 24, 2009
Travolta admits late son had autism — CBS News
Type: Press
Source: CBS News
(CBS/ AP) John Travolta has admitted for the first time his son Jett had autism. Travolta made the admission about his son in the Bahamas as he testified against two men accused of trying to blackmail him with private information about his son's rescue effort. Jett died in January from a seizure. CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella said Travolta testified in a Nassau courtroom that Jett suffered a seizure every five to ten days – each lasting from 45 seconds to ...
Sep 23, 2009
Travolta recounts son’s death at Bahamas trial — Associated Press
Sep 23, 2009
Travolta to testify over death of teenage son — The Independent (UK)
Sep 21, 2009
Jury selected for Travolta extortion trial — Associated Press
Type: Press
Author(s): Juan McCartney
Source: Associated Press
NASSAU, Bahamas – A jury was selected Monday for a trial that could see John Travolta take the stand against two people accused of trying to extort $25 million from the movie star following his son's death in the Bahamas. Travolta is on a list of 14 witnesses against the defendants — a former Bahamas senator and an ambulance driver — who allegedly threatened to release a document related to the treatment of his chronically ill son Jett. His testimony would ...
Sep 19, 2009
John Travolta will testify at extortion trial — TMZ
Type: Press
Source: TMZ
TMZ has confirmed John Travolta will testify next week at the extortion trial involving the death of his son, Jett. Travolta will travel to the Bahamas to testify on behalf of the prosecution. Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former politician Pleasant Bridgewater allegedly demanded $25 million in return for not going public with a document which authorized paramedics to take 16-year-old Jett to a hospital via ambulance after suffering a massive seizure. We're told Travolta and wife Kelly Preston are outraged by ...
Sep 2, 2009
Le mystère des dossiers disparus ["The lost files mystery"] [English subtitles by Anonymous] — France W9
More: original French version
Aug 29, 2009
Scientology: crisis in France — The Guardian (UK)
Type: Press
Author(s): Angelique Chrisafis
Source: The Guardian (UK)
It claims to be one of the world's fastest-growing new religions but a battery of legal cases threaten its very existence in this secular country In a small Normandy village, surrounded by wheat fields, Gwen Le Berre keeps a Scientology "electrometer" machine in his bedroom. He opens the large green briefcase and peers at the machine inside. It looks like a lie-detector from an old TV cop show and Le Berre doesn't really understand how it works — he just knows ...
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